Something Worth Living For
by PepsiCola541
Summary: Annabeth's life is going nowhere, and she feels like giving up most days. Then she decides to take a job at a diner where she meets her lost love once more. Completely and totally sappy Percabeth one-shot. Hope you enjoy, and R&R (: Rated T just to be safe.


**Well, I was bored, you guys, and I love writing Percabeth fluff, so I wrote this one-shot. It's total sap, and is unbelievably fluffy, but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you guys don't get bored reading it.**

**Love you guys, PLEASE R&R…I'll be your best friend if you do! :D**

It was hard for Annabeth to put faith in something so commercial, but it was there, and it was there to stay. The application was placed in front of her, lying on her desk over piles and piles of taxes. And as she rubbed her temple she realized that it may be the only option for her at this point.

She'd tried so many times to make herself take a job, just a regular one, like Walmart or just a waitress somewhere. It wasn't perfect, but it gave at least a little money, and that was something she didn't have. Something she needed.

Thrown out of her apartment just last week, she spent her life staying over with friends and working odd jobs around town just to keep afloat. She couldn't even live with herself anymore. She constantly wanted to give up, because she was exhausted all the time, and what was there to live for anymore, anyway? She couldn't make it in college; she'd folded under the pressure just last year and New York State had called her out of the blue one night, basically saying that sorry, she didn't make the cut to be able to come back the next year, and that they had made a giant mistake accepting her in the first place.

College had been her life's goal. What was there for her now? She had no more goals. She didn't even have a house anymore. She'd known the dark side of her town; she'd huddled in alleyway corners on snowy nights like the little match girl. The only things that kept her going were her constant necessity to survive, and that she had to find…him. At all costs.

Of course, she'd given up on him a long time ago. He was an echo of a whisper; he was almost erased from her mind. She hadn't seen him in weeks upon months upon years. He was probably married by now; at 20, Annabeth was starting to think she'd be forever alone.

Now, staring at the foreboding application before her, she flashed back to all of those reasons to give up. Biting her lip, she picked up her pen and started to fill out the form.

Two weeks later, she was walking up a creaky bunch of stairs to an old diner. It was homey and a bit run-down, but it gave decent pay, and Annabeth needed it.

She came in, timidly, and smiled at the man behind the counter. He was fairly up in years, maybe sixty or so, but his smile made him look at least twenty years younger. In his day, he probably had been pretty cute. She winced a bit, thinking of her lost love, but shook her curly blonde ponytail and picked up her apron; she mustn't ruin the day with depressing thoughts. After she had tied it around her waist, she waited until a customer came and took their order.

To Annabeth's great surprise, the diner actually was very popular, and many customers came in. She was practically running the length of the building, rushing to get people's food. She didn't mind; it took her mind off of her life, which was always good.

The door's bell rang, and she yelled, "Welcome to our-" She faltered and gripped the counter. A young man, with messy black hair and sea-green eyes, smiled at her in the doorway. She gaped at him, her eyes wide. "Per-Perc…."

"Annabeth, you look beautiful, as always." He smiled winningly at her and motioned to a table. "Can I sit here?"

She nodded blankly and continued to watch him. He gave her an odd look but chuckled nevertheless. She finally found the strength to walk over and hand him a menu, and asked, "Uh, what would you like today?"

He cleared his throat and his eyes scrolled through the choices. "Hm…how about a quarter pounder? And a blue cherry Coke."

She gave him a puzzled glance. "There's no such thing as a blue cherry Coke."

He looked at her. "There is if the customer says so, isn't that right?" He smirked at her sour look. She gave him a glare.

"Yes. Sir," she added, with a little force. She turned on her heel, walking back to the kitchen, and he laughed, shaking his head. _You haven't changed_, he thought.

Annabeth slapped a burger onto a bun. _Of all the stupid, insufferable… _She now remembered why she hadn't liked him. He was a complete prat. Thinking he was better than her, which of course was untrue…She was the one who had gotten into New York State, not him….

_You also got kicked out, _she reminded herself. She scowled at the thought. She decided to give him a blue raspberry Kool-Aid instead of going to the trouble of making a "blue" cherry Coke. Was he completely insane?

She grabbed up the plate and drink and made her way over to him, setting it before him. "Sorry, _sir, _but we didn't have any blue cherry Coke."

He snorted lightly. "That's alright, _ma'am._"

"Why did you come in here? Just to annoy me?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Everything must be about you, must it? That's how you felt when you left camp. And me. You're too selfish. You said so yourself that your pride would be your downfall."

She blushed furiously, too angry for words. She tried to ignore the sadness in his voice when he said "And me."

"That wasn't my fault. You knew I had to go back to school."

"And how is that going?"

She opened her mouth, but hesitated. "Fine," she lied. _Terrible. _

He nodded sarcastically. "So I've heard."

Annabeth was about two seconds away from slapping him. "Just keep your nose out of my business, will you?"

He scoffed. "Dear God, Annabeth, we were _best friends. _I know we had our differences sometimes, but can't we just let it go? Grudges are bad for people. They make you _bitter._" He looked at her pointedly.

She straightened, trying not to look at him. "Anything else for you, _sir?_"

"Yes, my best friend back. And I'm not leaving until you talk to me and tell me straight out what happened to you."

"Fine. We'll see how that works for you." She turned away from him once more, rubbing her temples.

It was five hours later, and Percy was still sitting where he had been. Annabeth was finishing her shift and was going to walk home, but she didn't want to. Percy was right, she had too much pride, and she didn't want him to see how poor she was.

Part of her did want to go to him, tell him everything, make him understand what she felt. She had always harbored that soft spot for Percy, but she was too stubborn. She didn't want him to know, she couldn't let him know.

Percy looked out of the window. How could he be able to stare Annabeth in the face, if she ever did decide to talk to him, without reaching out to touch the arch of her cheekbones, every curve and freckle of her face? God, he loved her. He didn't believe in love at first sight, because that was completely shallow, but the first time he saw her he thought she was drop-dead gorgeous. It was really unfair, because she didn't even try.

He wanted to bring up their first kiss, back when they were thirteen. It had been her doing; it was sudden, but unbelievably perfect. It had been too quick, and yet it had been infinite.

That was when it had started. Percy couldn't go a day without thinking about her, everything about her. He remembered little things like how she bit her lip when she was deep in thought, how she rubbed her temples when she was frustrated, how her eyes looked stormy when she was stressed or worried, how soft her lips were when they brushed against his and how unbelievably amazing she was in general.

And yet, he was worried himself. She probably would never feel the same. He still harbored this little spark of hope, buried deep inside his own stubborn heart that he could make her see that she could love him, that she did. She just didn't know it yet.

And Annabeth realized that maybe she was a little hopeful herself, as she wiped down the already cleaned counters. The diner's owner had already given her the key to lock up the building, which was very trusting of him since it was her first day.

But there was something about Annabeth that did just make her completely trustworthy. She was too trusting herself that it seemed people took on that characteristic by just looking at her.

She continued to rub a nonexistent stain on a table opposite Percy, wondering how long she could possibly last against the building pressure of going to talk to him. She couldn't stand it any longer. She needed to tell him. Everything.

_Well, maybe not everything, _she reassured herself. Some secrets were meant to be just that, secrets.

She slid into the booth where Percy was, her eyes shut. She raised her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples before looking at him.

Oh, God, he was even more gorgeous now than he had before, if that was even possible. His blue-green eyes were concerned, shaped under furrowed brows. He sighed, staring into Annabeth's stormy grey eyes, and he caught himself before saying, _Do you know how much I love you?_

His hands were itching to push back a curl into her ponytail, and he fidgeted with them under the table before resorting to sitting on them. He couldn't mess this up.

"Percy, I don't know if I can tell you. It's…a very touchy subject for me." She sighed, turning her gaze toward the tile.

"Annabeth, I already know most of it. Professor Brunner at NY State is a counselor at camp, remember?"

She winced, both from the pain of remembering her father figure looking disappointed and that Percy already knew her failures. She had failed Professor Brunner, and Percy, and herself, and everyone else in her life. She felt worthless.

"Yeah," she mumbled. She felt tears burning behind her eyes but didn't want to show any more weakness to the boy in front of her. She already felt exposed, and didn't like the feeling.

"Annabeth, look at me."

She didn't want to. He would notice her watery eyes, and she would again fail to hold herself back. She couldn't let it happen…

But she had to. Percy reached out his hand and brought her chin up so she met his gaze. A tear fell from her beautiful eyes, down her beautiful cheeks and dropped on his hand.

"Annabeth…"

He let his words drop off, because he knew that if he continued to speak his words would crack and break and he had to be strong for her. He brought his hand up from her chin and cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb softly against the corner of her eye, wiping away other tears.

Annabeth hoped she wasn't going to blubber, because it was bad enough she was crying. Annabeth Chase didn't cry in the first place.

Percy took his hand away, feeling as if he had crossed some invisible boundary, because she had fallen silent. But then she grasped his hand before he had completely taken it away from her, because she realized she didn't want him to not be touching her. She wanted to completely be enveloped in his warmth, to know that he was there, that he would always be there, and that he would never leave her again.

"Percy…"

He loved her voice, even if it was masked by pain and sadness. It was like music to him, and it didn't have its usual harshness forced in it. It was exposed, there for the taking, like she was giving him a gift she didn't ever give, telling him a secret she had never relayed to anyone. And he cherished the feeling that he got from just hearing her voice, because he wanted to feel special, especially if he could feel special about Annabeth. His Annabeth.

She wondered in the back of her mind if they would just sit there for eternity, saying each other's name over and over until dawn finally broke. Part of her told herself that she wouldn't mind. She loved that he would care enough to say anything to her, to wait with her and comfort her while she cried.

She brought his hand closer to her, guiding it around the table, placing it to her heart. She didn't want any barriers in between them any longer; she wanted him close.

He felt a little flutter in his chest, the spark of hope igniting in his heart. He slid into the seat next to her and looked at her longingly, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were closed, as if she was relishing every moment, wishing it would never end.

Which she was, and she didn't. She didn't know why she had to, but she knew that in that moment that she had to kiss him. Her emotion was blossoming in her heart and she didn't know what better way to let it go. At the thought her eyes flew open and she turned to Percy, a worried expression on her face once more.

His stomach flipped in apprehension at her face. What if she decided that she didn't feel the same way, that this was so unbelievably wrong? He squeezed his eyes closed and held her hand tighter, hoping against hope that she would see…

And then everything stopped. He ceased breathing as Annabeth's lips touched his. It was soft and beautiful and as perfect as the first; it would never end, he didn't want it to end. He felt like everything in the world had stopped and everything was silent, and yet the spark of hope in his chest had ignited into a wildfire, exploding into fireworks, making him feel as if he was just completely and utterly limitless, that he could last forever.

He surprised himself by deepening the kiss, moving his hands through her hair, running them through her scalp. She did the same, bringing him closer.

She never wanted it to end, but Percy pulled away, testing to see what she would do. She pulled him back to her, and she felt him smile against her lips.

The feeling in her chest exploded, then, also, and she couldn't contain her happiness. She wanted to jump ten feet in the air, and she felt like she could in that moment. She could finally die happy.

She grinned against his lips, too, and he then pulled away, his hands still on her neck. "What, am I terrible?" he asked her, breathing heavily.

She laughed. "No, not at all. It's just…I've found it."

He caressed her cheek. "What?"

"Something worth living for."


End file.
